The Avengers Plus One: The Time Lord
by karnillaofnorn
Summary: The 10th Doctor has caught wind of Loki's plan to enslave Earth- and decides to stop by for a chat.


The Doctor had picked the strange energy readings up a while ago, and tracked them to 21st Century Earth- The United States, to be exact. He determined that the Americans must be researching an alien object, for it seemed to be contained on a military base of some sort. He decided that he wouldn't interfere for now; if they weren't doing something that endangered the Earth, he had no right to step in.

He'd been floating in the Vortex when the TARDIS gave a shudder, and suddenly was in flight towards a place unknown. He gave a startled yelp as he was propelled into one of the coral constructs, landing on his backside in a heap as the TARDIS suddenly touched down.

"Where are we, old girl?" he asked curiously, turning the console towards him. Earth, 21st Century- America. He frowned in thought, as this was the second time he'd been here in this timeline. Curious, he turned on the external monitoring system and gasped in shock.

The base that had kept the mysterious alien artifact was completely destroyed.

Rescue efforts were well under way, he noticed, so it must've been a couple of hours since the implosion his scanners had picked up on. He'd never seen energy readings like this before; really, the only recognizable form of energy in the multitude he'd picked up on was gamma radiation. That the TARDIS archives didn't even know what it was sent off warning bells in his head, and slowly, a wide grin stretched across his face. He noticed that every rescue worker had an insignia on their uniforms, so he had the TARDIS scan it and compare it to all known organizations in the Universe that he'd come across. He sat back to let the scan run, content to stay and not explore for once- the people who were out there, whoever they were, had a LOT of guns and were twitchy enough at this point to just shoot first and ask questions later. He wasn't ready to regenerate, his song wasn't quite up yet, he thought to himself morosely.

Five minutes later, there was a BING from the console. He stood up swiftly, turning the console as his brooding visage disappeared entirely.

"Oh! This is just _BRILLIANT!_" he exclaimed, wide grin back in place. The insignia on the uniforms was that of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Strategic Homeland Intervention and Enforcement, Logistics Division. He hadn't dealt with them in _decades_, and was quite sure that whatever had happened here, this was the beginning of something **big**.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for the Doctor to find their hidden ship, and what a ship it was! A flying aircraft carrier, it was absolutely brilliant! It even had cloaking devises! He so enjoyed the creativeness of humans. He, for once, quietly and invisibly landed his TARDIS in what looked to be a large containment center, with a large glass cage in the center. He noticed, with slight disdain, that the bottom would open up to drop the containment cage out, thousands of feet down through the air. Nothing could survive that fall, not even him. He watched with slight anxiety as a somewhat familiar man was escorted into the cell with a smirk on his face, like he <em>wanted<em> to be there, which seemed odd for the Doctor. Who wants to be locked up in a cell like **that**? He'd been imprisoned much the same way and it was never fun, not unless it was part of his plan...

He watched in silence and a tall African-American man with an eye-patch stalked into the room, glaring slightly at the man in the cage.

"In case you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass..." the man trailed off, punching a few buttons on the screen. The Doctor's eyes widened slightly as his suspicions were proved true: with a howling sound, the floor beneath the cage slid open, revealing the fact that they were high up in the atmosphere. Wind whipped around the room as the dark man paused to watch the man in the cell, who only responded with a sickly smile. Pushing a couple of other buttons, the floor slid closed again, and the man in the cage smiled just a bit more.

"Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" the man, who the Doctor now was certain was Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., gestured at the man in the cage and said, "Ant," before gesturing at the console, "Boot."

The man in the cage only grinned wider, before glancing around at his surroundings.

"It is an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury said, glaring harder at the man.

"Oh, I've heard. The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you? That you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

The Doctor only sighed; he could see where this was going, and that was nowhere fast.

"How desperate am I?" Fury thundered, "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be happy you did."

"Ooh, it burns you to have come so close, to have the Tesseract, to have power," the familiar man in the strange golden and green armor said.

The Doctor's face paled a little. The Tesseract, where had he heard of that before? He quickly turned his attention back to the sickly looking man just as he continued to speak.

"Unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind?" The Doctor saw him smile maliciously into a camera in the corner. "And then to be reminded what real power is."

"Well, let me know if _"real power"_ wants a magazine or something." Fury said as he turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.

* * *

><p>The Doctor sat contemplating, a search in the database looking into the Tesseract. From what he knew of Fury, he'd be sending his best interrogator down to try and find the man's plan out soon. He was wracking his brain for words like the Tesseract, and why that man looked <em>so<em>familiar...

A loud beep interrupted his musings, and he was drawn to the console to see his second search, a facial recognition search, had found a result.

Loki, formerly Odinsson, now known as Laufeyson, Prince of Asgard and Future King of Jotunheim. The Doctor paled as he realized what this could possibly mean. He usually wasn't one for swearing, but a startled Shit! rang out in the console room.

He remembered, several hundred years ago, when he was still quite young by Time Lord standards, that he'd taken a trip to Asgard. It had always fascinated him, their culture and science and "magic", and he'd wanted to see it first hand.

_He'd been greeted like a Lord, and escorted straight to the throne room by a contingent of golden-clad guards, to greet the Allfather, Odin Borsson. The King of Asgard and his Queen had sat resplendent upon their golden thrones, the hall filled to the brim with court and aristocracy while his two sons had stood on either side of the thrones, the flaxen haired one behind his father as the Primary Heir and the ebony haired one behind his mother as Secondary Heir. It was one of the most fantastical and pretentious greetings he'd ever received, and he was never going to forget it._

_It was said that the royal couple had the ability to see into the future, much like the Visionaries of the Time Lords could only without the insanity, with Frigga the Queen able to do it effortlessly, while Odin could only catch snippets. As such, he'd intently watched their facial expressions as they first caught sight of him, curious to what he'd find._

_He certainly hadn't expected the flash of pain, horror, sadness, and compassion in Frigga's eyes, even though her face remained impassive. Similarly, the Allfather's stern face had softened to that of some type of comforting fatherly expression as he said, "Time Lord, what do they Call you?" He could understand that slightly; he hadn't been too much older than his own sons, Thor and Loki._

_"I am Called the Doctor, Allfather," he'd said, sketching a bow of respect to the man who was so well respected on Gallifrey._

_"Come then, Doctor, and meet my family." Odin had said, but the Doctor knew that it was an order, so he complied quickly._

_Thor was a very honest, very hard headed lad who the Doctor could tell was a great warrior, but would only be a great King if he learned to humble his arrogance and battle-lust. Loki, on the other hand, was extremely intelligent and was able to do the most delightful tricks and illusions the Doctor had ever seen. He caught himself laughing far more often at Loki's jokes and antics than he did at Thor's, which were often raunchy and cruel to people who were different. There had been feasts in his honor, which he'd requested Loki's presence by his side as they became quite the good acquaintances in the week he'd spent there. While Thor had initially been put out, he'd realized that the Time Lord who graced their halls was a man of learning, quick wit, and highly intellectual, not a warrior and so in one of his only true acts of good faith to Loki he'd let them bond. It was probably good that Loki had a friend who was like him in a lot of ways, and his mother certainly thought so too._

_What neither Thor, Loki, nor even the Doctor ever knew, was that Frigga had gone to Odin after their first meeting and spoke with him._

_"Husband, I have Seen the Time Lord's future. There is not much I can tell you, but know this: He may be the only one who has a chance to stop Ragnarok."_

_"Wife, I too have Seen some of the Doctor's future. The burning plains of Gallifrey, the fall of the Time Lords and their greatest enemy. He is the only one who will be able to stop it, but in doing so he will destroy his people. How can we be certain that he will not help bring around Ragnarok if he is to continue his association with our youngest son?"_

_"We do not, my dear, but he is of good heart and soul. I have no doubt he will slip; the pain he will endure will be greater even than anything we have known. I do know, however, that if there is one being in the Universe who can help our son away from the dark path he shall take, it will be him."_

* * *

><p>The Doctor pulled out of his musings as he made a choice. He pushed open the doors to the TARDIS, cancelling the cloaking devise, and strolled towards the cage leisurely. Loki spun around from where he was pacing, his eyes widening before narrowing on the strange looking, slightly familiar man in the trench coat and pinstripe suit.<p>

"Who are you? How did you get here?" Loki demanded, eyes flickering to the unassuming but highly out-of-place Police Public Call Box in the corner.

"All in good time. There are things we must discuss." The Doctor said, pleasant smile on his face as he used his sonic screwdriver to lock the doors. He looked up into the camera in the corner of the room and mouthed, "Hello, Nicky. Long time no see. If you want answers, you'll not bother me while I talk with him."

* * *

><p>Up in the control room, there was a pause of incredulous silence before people started jumping up, shouting orders at each other. Fury sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and yelled out, <strong>SILENCE!<strong> Immediately silence rang out before everyone turned back to what they were doing before this strange man appeared out of nowhere in the brig. Fury turned back to the shell-shocked Avengers and sighed again. He had just been about to send Agent Romanoff down to interrogate the prisoner, but this was much, much better.

"Sir," said Agent said, and he turned his one eye to her. "What did he mean by that?"

"Mean by what? The mouthing at the camera?" Stark said, looking intently at her. "What did he say?"

Agent Romanoff glanced at the Director, who nodded stiffly at her before she said,"He said, 'Hello Nicky. Long time no see. If you want answers, you'll not bother me while I talk with him.'"

Stark burst out laughing, chuckling "Nicky" under his breath for a few seconds. Captain Rogers looked incredibly confused, Banner looked bemused, Romanoff's expression was masked as always, and Thor wasn't even paying attention, staring intently at the man on the screen.

"Who is he, sir? Is he a hostile?" Rogers asked, still with a confused look on his face. Fury sighed before shaking his head.

"This is the entity known as the Doctor." He saw Thor's head whip up at that, eyes wide and mouth open to speak but he plowed on. "Helped us out during World War II, some kind of alien tech was turning people into some kind of gas mask creatures. Few years later, he showed up again to help us found S.H.I.E.L.D., giving us knowledge of different aliens that might visit, hostile and non-hostile. We've had intel that he's stopped numerous alien incursions on Earth, dating back thousands of years. Almost always with a different face, but the thing in common is that blue box he flies around in. We don't know if it's the same man, or if it's an inherited position or what. All I know is we've got our asses handed to us by some of those things and as soon as he shows up, they turn tail and run."

They all turned to watch the screen as the enigmatic man started speaking, Thor deep in thoughts and unable to explain just yet what he knew of the Doctor.

* * *

><p>The Doctor turned away from the screen, giving Fury some time to explain like he knew he would before he started talking to Loki. Instead, he simply studied the man in front of him, so familiar yet so utterly different from the boy he knew on Asgard.<p>

Loki was unnaturally pale, with dark bags under his eyes while his skin had an unhealthy sheen to it. The man's long black hair was greasy and stringy, yet styled back in what normally would've been an attractive way had his entire being not screamed insane. The most startling difference, though, were his eyes.

The last time the Time Lord had met the Asgardian prince, his eyes had been a mesmerizing emerald green that seemed to swirl with the colors of a nebula, indicating his shape-shifting tendencies. Indeed, the Doctor had been entertained many times by the boy Loki shifting into different animals, and on one occasion, even a female version of his own self. The one thing that never changed, though, between each of his forms, was his eyes. Something was definitely wrong there.

Similarly, Loki was intently studying the man who had yet to speak. He seemed...familiar, in a far off sense, like someone from his past that he knew he should know but could not put a face to. In his fevered mind, he didn't even once entertain the notion that this was his Time Lord friend, who'd shown up randomly over the years with gifts and stories of his adventures until they suddenly stopped. After all, Loki had certainly heard about the destruction of the Time Lord's planet in the infamous Time War, and thought that his only friend had died there too. In truth, the only reason the Doctor had not returned after that was because he was broken, and didn't want his friend to see the pain of death and destruction in his eyes. He was famed as the God of Lies, so of course would have known that something was wrong with the Doctor and would have sussed it out eventually.

After giving the Director enough time to explain their history, the Doctor calmly walked towards the man in the cage. Loki was the first to speak.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked in a sly voice, a hint of a smirk curling his lips. The Doctor maintained his small smile as he nodded.

"You are Loki, formerly known as Odinsson, now known as Laufeyson." he said, and watched as a snarl of rage rose from the man's chest. Loki almost lunged against the glass before holding himself back, spitting out hatefully, "I **AM** Loki Odinsson, Rightful King of Asgard! You mortals will bow down to me eventually!"

The Doctor only chuckled and shook his head, saying, "That's if you assume I am mortal." He spun around and looked at his surroundings, noticing the Godling's surprised expression before going on.

"Under article 9.23 C, subsection B of the Shadow Proclamation, it states 'The invasion of a Level 5 Planet or above with the intention of subverting it's population through force of will or weapon is prohibited. The consequences of these actions against the perpetrator will be decided upon by the criminal's home planet. If there is no home planet, the perpetrator will be sentenced to execution by submergence into a supernova, posthaste.' Now, Loki, it seems we have a bit of an issue here. If I were to turn you over, right now, to the Shadow Proclamation, you, having no home planet, would be immediately executed, no trial, no jury. And don't give me that look. Your entire family thinks you dead, you tried to annihilate your own people, there's no one who would claim you in time. Besides, look at what you've done. In the past several days, you've murdered numerous people in cold blood, enslaved several extremely good people to do your will, and now you're going to attempt to blow this ship sky high. Yes, I know that's why you're here. The logistics don't really matter to me at this point, except for to stop it." The Doctor turned to look at Loki, saw his furious expression disappear off of his face unnaturally fast. A calm serene took over his face as his mouth twisted into a truly sick smile.

"You're remarkably well informed. Who are you?" it said. The Doctor knew for certain that _this_, whatever it was, was truly the puppet master pulling the strings of Loki's body and mind. He smiled thinly at it, going over to the door and sonicing it open. Immediately, Thor, Fury, a redhead and a tall blonde man strode into the room. The Doctor turned around, thin smile still in place as the four arranged themselves behind him with various expressions of anger on their faces.

"Oh, I go by many names. Some you may have heard of. The Oncoming Storm. The Destroyer of Worlds. The Last of the Time Lords. Ringing any bells here?"

_"Doctor!"_ the being spat, backing away with slight fear in his eyes.

"Oh, so you _have_ heard of me then? I guess you can see why this war you're trying to start won't work out that well." The Doctor said with a smirk on his face, eyes never leaving those of the being inside the body of his friend. It snarled, an ugly sound, before grinning and laughing maniacally.

"Oh, Doctor, my master will crush you and the little mortals you've surrounded yourself with, past, present, and future. His power knows no bounds! Your little Godling is _screaming_ in the back of his mind, absolutely **pounding** against the barriers holding him back. Poor little Loki, unloved by his 'father' for being a monster, the only friend he ever had about to get destroyed by the power of my master. He _knows_ the kind of powers my master wields, intimately. And he knows what happens when you disobey my master's wishes. But oh, what's this? My master is telling me to give you a little _gift._ You get your pathetic little Jotun back, just in time to see everything you ever loved, everyone you ever cared for, **ripped apart** in front of your very eyes. Enjoy, Doctor, it'll be the last happiness you'll have in a long, long time." With that, the blue gradually faded out of Loki's eyes, their mesmerizing color dull and glazed as he collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.


End file.
